I will admit that the Buffalo Sabres' goaltending in their series with the Montreal Canadiens was far from phenomenal. Having given up a total of 27 goals across seven games, the Sabres' goaltending was giving up an average of nearly four goals per game after giving up just 12 goals across six games against the Boston Bruins in the opening round and an average of just under three goals per game during the regular season.
But I don't think it's fair to pin the series loss to the Habs on the goaltending entirely. While Alex Lyon, who started the series after taking Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's place as the starter in Game 2 against Boston, was arguably the rate-limiting step, the same can't necessarily be attributed to Luukkonen.
Let's start off with Lyon. The ex-Florida Panther started the series incredibly strong, recording 28 saves in a 4-2 win in Game 1. But his performance cratered after that point; including the Game 1 win, Lyon recorded 98 saves on 113 total shots faced, which is good for an .867 save percentage, during the series against the Habs. That's not necessarily the worst save percentage in the world, but that does include a Game 6 start where he gave up three goals on the first four shots that he faced and a goal against after being inserted late in Game 5.
Luukkonen wasn't necessarily better in terms of preventing blowouts; like Lyon in Game 2 and 3, UPL was in net for the majority of the Sabres' 6-3 Game 5 loss.
UPL had a greater impact than Lyon vs. Canadiens
Luukkonen's 97 saves on 107 shots faced was good enough for a .907 save percentage, which is slightly below the .910 SV% he recorded during the regular season. The 10 goals conceded across his four appearances was also right on par with his goals against average of 2.52.
Those metrics include three noticeable performances.
The first was a Game 4 start that, despite Montreal gaining a 2-1 advantage, saw Luukkonen keep a red-hot Habs offense from pulling away in a penalty-filled and controversy-filled match, ultimately helping the Sabres to even the series at two games apiece.
The second saw him enter Game 6 in the place of a struggling Lyon. Down 3-1, Luukkonen would stop all 18 shots that he faced, preventing Montreal from closing out the series and ultimately earning enough goal support to force the series to a Game 7.
In that Game 7, Luukkonen and the Sabres went down 2-0 by the end of the first period before clawing back to force the game to overtime. What ultimately cost the Sabres was a botched post-faceoff set up that saw the Habs break out and score on a shot that fooled Luukkonen mid-flight.
Newhook's series-winner shouldn't be pinned on Luukkonen
Luukkonen throwing his helmet following the conclusion of the overtime period does kind of summarize his feelings in this regard. While one could interpret that as frustration from missing the puck, that and the defense faltering at the worst possible time can be seen as applicable.
If one were to watch the replay of the Alex Newhook goal, the Sabres were already trying to scramble back as the Habs gained possession following Buffalo's poor blue-line play. And their defense was only partially set by the time Newhook pulled the trigger, leaving Luukkonen staring at a very wobbly shot, one that ultimately snuck past him and into the net.
Sure, he was in net for the goal. And sure, there's a chance he could have made the save.
But the defense wasn't exactly able to stop the Habs' offense all series, and it would often fall on the goaltender to be the difference. More often than not, though this applies more to Lyon than Luukkonen, the goaltending didn't have the help required to be the difference.
How should the Sabres move forward?
Rather than setting alarm bells off, this postseason should be a learning experience for Luukkonen, who was contesting his first career playoff games. Being able to truly understand how to be the difference in a game and being able to perform in the high-pressure and low-space situations that come with the Stanley Cup Playoffs will only make Luukkonen a stronger goaltender.
And it's not that common for goaltenders to enter their first postseason and exceed expectations. Even Jakub Dobes, who has been outstanding for Montreal this postseason, had his struggles during the Habs' first-round loss to the Washington Capitals last season.
I've had my issues with the goaltending for much of the postseason, but these kind of situations are where I tend to let netminders off the hook. Luukkonen can't necessarily control what the defense in front of him does and what kind of effort the forwards put in, and that's already unfavorable enough as it is.
But next year will certainly be a different year for the Sabres, and there's a very good chance that Luukkonen is put in a better position to be able to make the kind of game-deciding saves that didn't go his way against Montreal.
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